Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1887-06-11

he idea that Washington cannot grow, be-
cause it has no smoky rolling mills. Wash
ington city grows and feeds on its sight
seers, as other cities do on manufacto-
ries, and the supply here in this regard is just
as constant as that of any smoky town in the
land. Every presidential inauguration brings
from 100000 to 100000 visitors, who will
spend on the average $40 at least each. This
makes a regular supply Of at least 81, SOC, 900
every four years, or an average of 1915, 600 a
year, from one source alone. The visitors of
each congressional session add at least 10000.
/ should judge. to Washingtons population
during the winter, and it would be indeed a
low estimate to put the cold outlay of these
Mt 500 each. The individual sum is small,
but its total amounts to $1,000, 600 a season.
Then take congress itself, with its numerous
| employees. The 325 members receive s. 900 each
| a year, and the ajority of them spend three
| fourths of their salaries here, while some
spend two or three times the whole s., 900
Washington gets perhaps 81 100000 out of
the salaries Of congressman alone, and it gets
several times this much out of its resident
government clerks. Take the treasury, for
instance, with its 4, 600 clerks; where will you
! find factory which will compare with this
in wages to its employees? The average must
be not far from 81 900 each a year, and the
total will amount to millions. All that
a town gets from factory is
the wages of its employees, and these
government departments are to Wash
ington just what factories are to Pittsburg
and Chicago. The only difference is the gov
ornment factory hands get higher wages, and
these are never scaled, no matter how hard
the times nor how scarce money is in other
orfc nf ntvxy o1a h.
a rule spend more freely and save less than
men receiving the same salaries elsewhere.
fhey are generally away from home. They
have much leisure on their hands and there is
every temptation for them to be extravaganza.
They are SO, and but few of them save any
thing. These government factories increase
every year, and they will continue to grow
as fast Us the country increases in population
and wealth Another source of increase in
Washingtons size is the social element, which
has become SO prominent lately. Every
millionaire who comes to Washington brings
retinue of servants, and his yearly expenses
run mp into the tens Of thousands He builds
and invests and the result is that he is worth
a dozen poor men in building up the city
Then there are the general expenses of the
government, amounting to over 800, OOO, 900
a year. Washington business men get some
of this, and on the whole the city manages to
live.
These are some of the sources Of our national
capitals growth. l do not give them to adj
vertise the city, but to correct a false i'm
preston. -.
I saw ex-Minister Kasson on the street to-
lay. He has apparently entirely recovered |
MS health and his eye is bright and his step |
free. He has been residing at the capital the |
past winter and has been engaged, it is said
upon a diplomatic history of tue United |
States ~.
Judge Kelley worked hard while he was
south this spring, and has come back brim-
sul Of its agricultural possibilities He tells |
me the soil of the south will raise other things
Than its people suppose, and he predicts that
It will one day have as diversified an agricul-
5ure as other parts of the United States. He
-els me an interesting story about the growth
Of clover in Georgia, and says that its plant
ing dates back to the early days of the war.
Before this time it was not thought that
clover could be grown there, but during
Kslley's recent visit he found the state
covered with the finest and richest varieties
He says:
During the war l was a strong Union
nan. l was in favor Of the severest fighting
IS matter of mercy, in that by such action |
would the war close the sooner When it
was over l was for peace and reunion with all
my soul, and l did everything l could for
.he south. The southern states We're yerv
poor, and they were out of all the necessities
Of life. They especially lacked seed, and
Governor Woford, of Georgia, came to
Washington to see if he could not procure
some for the farmers Of his state. How he
to come to me do not know, but
"A a COLL
arrival, and told me of the restitution of
Georgia. he asked me to help him. had
not sent off my allotment of seed for the
session, and l told him that 1 would turn
these over to him. went the next day to
my friends in congress who represented city
districts and got them to sign over their
seeds to me, and turned them all over to
w oiford. He sent them to his home at
CartersVllle, Ga., and they were from thence
distributed all over the state. At this time I |
urged upon Governor Wofford the necessity of
a diversified agriculture throughout the
south, and told him the country would
never be prosperous as long as cotton was it's
only staple CROP and they relied upon arti-
fetal fertilizers. You must raise cattle, said
|, and keep horses instead of mules. You
ought to raise clover and make tho ground |
pay for its own enrichment l told the gov
ernor that | believed clover would grow in
Georgia, and be replied that he thought so
too, and he told me how just before the war
began Nirginian had come to Georgia to
live, and had brought with him a bag or so |
OF clover seed He had sown this and it had
produced fine crop. The result was that
his nelghbors were giving up their old idea
that clover could not be grown in Georgia.
and he predicted that in time the state
would he carpeted with it. This was more
than twenty years ago, and his prediction
has since been fulfilled"
FRANK G. CARPENTER.
Buffalo Bill Abroad.
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